Turtle Bay to Ensenada

 

We refueled with the help of Jesus and his panga (open fiberglass fishing boat with go fast motor) after setting the hook in Turtle Bay. The wind had piped up off shore and we weren’t going any where for a few days. Patience, Patience, Patience….. Debbie and I were off to town to explore and soon found a small restaurant named Morocco with good fast wifi. We went there for lunch each day to check the weather web sites, in hopes of finding a good weather window. On our last day in Turtle bay we ran in to a delivery crew that appeared a little rough around the edges. They were delivering a Lagoon catamaran from PV to San Diego. The crew said it had been a rough trip up the coast with wind and sea on the nose the entire way. Then, the Captain walked in and introduced himself as Woody. Debbie and I both know him from reading the Latitudes and Attitudes magazine. He sailed a 29 foot Cal around the world, writing about his adventures along the way. It was great reading. We chatted for a few minutes and then Woody gathered his crew and they were off. We opted for one more good nights sleep and to let the sea settle down.

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In the morning we raised anchor and set the Vertical Dacron Stabilizer (main sail) and motor sailed out of the bay and around the point. There was a fair amount of kelp to be avoided and that was another good reason to transit this area during day light hours. We had planned to anchor at the north east tip of the island of Cedros but we felt that our weather window would evaporate if we wasted the night sleeping, so we endured yet another,” cape effect”, and pressed on. We where rewarded with a wonderful nights sail across Bahia Sebastian Vizcaino to the mainland. We needed to clear the point further west so we spent the day tacking back and forth We decided to head for Punta San Carlos anchorage for the night. We had a rousing sail on a beam reach and arrived before dusk. We settled ourselves in by anchoring in 30 feet of water with just a little swell. We sat down to a fine evening with a home cooked meal and a movie on our miniature DVD player.

In the morning we raised anchor and set sail for Bahia San Quintin. It was only 60 miles north, and according to the guide was a safe anchorage. Well, perhaps the guide was over exaggerating. Debbie warned that she had read about a couple that had lost their motor when trying to leave the anchorage. They didn’t have enough wind to sail out of the impact zone and lost their boat there. Upon arrival we were spooked due to the five leviathans swimming around the mouth of the estuary. You can hear them sing through the hull of the boat and I had the foreboding feeling of a loud sleepless night. Little did I know the whales were the least of our worries. Around midnight I got my first wakeup call as Sosiego came up short on her anchor rode. A large tidal shift put us in the path of a raging river with over a 6 knot tide rip under our keel. The Bruce anchor held and we didn’t drag, but restful sleep was out of the question. In the morning we came on deck to discover the surge breaking not 20 yards off the bow and all the way across the bay. I believe we set a new personal record in raising anchor and getting underway.

We had to cover 114 miles to get to Ensenada. This makes it an overnight passage and of course the wind was not favorable for sailing. We needed to go further west, again, so that required tacking back and forth. The next morning we arrived at the entrance to the bay only to find it shrouded in fog. It persisted making it difficult to see the point. We used our instruments and entered the bay for Ensenada. We arrived at Cruiseport Marina village around 1:30 pm. Deb made several attempts to contact the staff by radio, but no one answered. A watchman pointed us to a slip and we tied Sosiego up for a good rest.

The next day the staff gave us a ride to the port captain and assisted in the checking in procedures. Customs, Immigration, and the port captain are all under the same roof. The one building made checking in very convenient to say the least. With Sosiego secure, we rented a car and headed home for a visit. We made the trip in one day. The only problem occurred at the border crossing. In the maze that is the border we followed the signs to San Diego. Unfortunately we ended up in the line that said Sentri. Debbie speaks Spanish and didn’t know what the word meant. So we continued on only to discover it was for daily commuters. They actually go through full background checks before they are given a special pass. We where searched, chastised, and threatened with a 5,000.00$ fine if we ever did it again. Apparently we aren’t good at smooth transitions.

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After the long and arduous journey, home was a welcome sight We are doing the necessary evil of ordering parts, going to the doctors, doing taxes and as much visiting as possible. We should return to the boat on Thursday the 1st of May. Until next time, may you have fair winds and following seas.

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Cabo revisited again and again and …

 

After leaving Paradise village in Banderas bay we set sail for Hilo Hawaii. Ahh the best laid plans of mice and men. It was a little disconcerting that you can’t just leave when you want. To leave, you must go through a checkout procedure that entails Immigration, Port Captain, and customs inspections all of which must be scheduled. Well the weather doesn’t follow the schedule and what looks like a good window today falls apart tomorrow. Once we checked out we where cautioned not to stop at any Mexican ports. Well the wind we needed to cross the sea of Cortez evaporated. Mike from PV sails had said on the radio that the window had closed and as well as our opportunity to sail to the trade winds. He was right and after two days of motoring we new we needed to divert to Cabo San Lucas for fuel. Three days and four nights of motoring before we finally punched through the cape effect (too much wind on the nose) to land in Cabo.  We anchored off the beach and jerry jugged fuel to the boat with an eye on the weather. We were now 300 miles closer to Hilo and only a couple of days from the trade winds.

 

Ok plan “B”

 

So what do you do when a passing panga upsets your dingy while you are refueling the outboard and rips the gas cap off and overboard on a Sunday in Mexico. Well  I went after it,in hind sight not such a great idea. The water this time of year is crystal clear and I easily located it in 30ft of water. I put on the fins snorkel and mask and made a surface free dive that ultimately ruptured my weak right ear drum. Hey, I recovered the cap. I’ve ruptured that ear drum before due to swimmers ear as a kid so I didn’t think to much about it. Our weather window opened and we set sail again. After two days of boisterous sailing and no sleep I had an ominous feeling and told Debbie I wanted to return to Cabo, and forget sailing to Hawaii. We did an about face only to discover that my ear was badly infected. We carry oral antibiotics but this was an outer ear infection that could permanently destroy my hearing. Ahhh welcome back to Cabo. Upon arrival I went to Amerimed and was treated by an awesome ENT doctor. We also officially checked back into Mexico which turned out to be a two day ordeal. A lady at the port captains office lost her purse and returned to the office and accused everyone that had been there at the same time of theft. Luckily we were still there and were not in possession of the purse. The response from the local police was impressive as three squad cars and six officers some with machine guns took her statement. We also learned of the drama that was playing out on the high seas on the sailboat Rebel Heart. A family with a one year old daughter had to be rescued and they lost their boat. At this point I felt that Hawaii was just not to be. A big high pressure system settled over the Baja coast and created the perfect opportunity to bash back up the coast to home and no way to sail to the trades. So we went with the flow and are now anchored in turtle bay awaiting the next weather window to head for Ensenada.